Women's Track & Field

Pioneers Produce at New England Championships

Mar 03, 2011

(Boston, MA) – The Sacred Heart Pioneer men's and women's indoor track and field teams competed in the New England Intercollegiate Indoor Track and Field Championships at Boston University this past weekend, with many Pioneers turning in award-winning performances.

Bertony Jean-Louis placed second in the Men's 60 Meter Hurdles with a time of 7.89, while Jeremy Rosado placed fourth with a time 8.13. Both were named All-New England and topped the IC4A standard of 8.25. Jean-Louis broke his own school record of 7.98, which he set in the NEC's two weeks ago.

In the Men's Mile run, Jeffrey Lusignan placed second with a time of 4:13.82, with Daniel Koehler placing sixth at 4:15.22. Both were named All-New England, however Lusignan qualified for IC4A standard of 4:14.90, while Koehler narrowly missed the standard. Lusignan broke his own school record of 4:14.89, which he set in January.

Chase Petrucci finished fifth in Men's Shot Put with a toss of 51' 7 ¼" for and All-New England honor.

Patrick Peterson finished fourteenth in the Men's 800 Meter trials at 1:53.65. While Peterson didn't advance to the final, he did surpass the IC4A standard of 1:54.90, and he recorded the fastest freshman time in program history.

The Men's 4x800 Meter Relay team consisting of Jeffrey Lusignan, Daniel Koehler, Andrew Houghtalen, and Patrick Peterson placed fifth at 7:42.10, with all four earning All-New England. Houghtalen recorded the fastest 800 meter split on the team with a 1:53.7 clocking. The team ran in the unseeded section, which they won by nearly ten seconds -- good enough to place them fifth overall. They easily surpassed the IC4A qualifying standard of 7:53.00, and set a new indoor school record in the process. The old school record of 7:46.95 was set in the New England Championships in 2009.

In the Women's Shot Put, four Pioneers finished in the top eleven: Lindsay Aponte, second, 44' 10 ¾" (All-New England), Carol Cress, third, 44' 10 ¼" (All-New England),Kolbi Smith, ninth, 40' 4 ¾", and Joselyn Henry, eleventh, 40' ¾". Aponte threw a personal best to surpass the ECAC standard of 44' 3 ½". Cress also topped the ECAC standard, while Henry threw a new personal best to break the 40 foot barrier for the first time. Along with the four athletes who competed in the event, juniors Athalia Smith, Chantaul Smith, and Christine Middleton have also thrown over 40 feet this year. "As far as I can determine, we are the only school in the country that has seven women over 40 feet in the shot put," said head coach Christian Morrison.

Ashley Matakevich, third, 18' 4 ¼" (All New-England) broke the school record in Women's Long Jump of 18' 1" that she shared with teammate Sarana Hyatt.

In the Women's Weight Throw, Athalia Smith, sixth, 55' 6 ½" (All-New England) and Kolbi Smith, seventh, 54' 1" (All-New England) both surpassed the ECAC standard of 52' 6". Kolbi Smith's mark was a new personal best, and the best throw by a freshman in program history.

Brittany Llobell finished eighth in the Women's 1000 Meters at 2:58.03 (All-New England), setting a new school record in the trials on Friday with a 2:58.12 clocking, then breaking the record again in the finals. The old record of 2:58.94 was set by Katie Wrinkle in 2004.

Finally, in the Women's 5000 Meter, Megan Papp, sixteenth, 18:18.56 turned in a notable performance, as she followed up her sixth-place finish in the NEC Championships two weeks earlier with a 10 second personal best in this race.